Open enrollment is officially underway — and the majority of employees are not excited about it at all.
That's because most employees have a host of grievances about the enrollment process. According to PlanSource, a cloud-based provider of benefits administration, for example, more than half (55 percent) say there is something they find frustrating about their employer's benefits enrollment program.
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Additionally, 52 percent said they would rather do any other unpleasant activity than endure the "laborious process" of enrolling in benefits.
PlanSource asked consumers what their top complaints about enrollment were aside from cost — which would undoubtedly be cited as the top complaint given continuous premium increases.
Here's what they said.
4. Difficult to navigate
A big complaint about their employer's enrollment process was its complex online system: 12 percent of employees told PlanSource the online system they used to sign up was difficult to navigate. And employees are spending a lot of time trying to figure it out: 67 percent of employees said they have to take time out of their work day researching, choosing and enrolling in their employer's benefits plan during open enrollment, resulting in millions of hours of lost productivity.
3. Not enough choices
17 percent said there aren't enough choices in the benefits plan they were offered.
According to Mercer analysis, in 2014, most employees are enrolled in a PPO/POS (61 percent), followed by CDHPs (23 percent) and HMOs (16 percent).
2. Too many forms
Paperwork is never fun, especially when it's not a part of your actual job: 18 percent complained there are too many forms to fill out during enrollment.
Similarly, PlanSource also found that 31 percent say figuring out how to fill out forms is difficult.
1. Too confusing
One in five (20 percent) say the information they received explaining their benefits choices was confusing. That's a common complaint, as survey after survey has found that consumers are confused about both the enrollment process and their own benefits.
A national study of consumers by the American Institutes for Research last month found that though consumers say they understand health care and insurance, many lack basic knowledge and fail to ask questions about what they're getting in their policy before they enroll. According to AIR, 42 percent said they are not likely or only somewhat likely to review a plan's details before signing up for coverage. Only 20 percent said they could calculate correctly how much they owe for a routine doctor's visit.
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